1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an object detecting device that detects an object based on an image captured by an imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As related art, object detecting devices that detect the position and the like of another vehicle such as a leading vehicle or an oncoming vehicle are being used in collision prevention systems and the like in vehicles to avoid a collision with another vehicle. One example of such an object detecting device is a device that detects an object by a sensor fusion recognition process that combines an image captured by a camera with detection results of detection by radar.
With detection by radar, in principle, it is not possible to calculate the width of a detection target object (i.e., an object to be detected), but it is possible to obtain information about the distance to that object. On the other hand, with detection by a monocular camera, it is not possible to obtain the distance to a detection target object, but it is possible to detect the width and the like of the object. Sensor fusion is a method for detecting an obstacle by combining these kinds of functions of a plurality of sensors. In the past, various studies have been carried out regarding object detection by sensor fusion.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-329779 (JP-A-2005-329779) describes an obstacle recognition device that recognizes an obstacle in front of the host vehicle without being affected by the coordinates of a camera image being offset from the coordinates of a radar probe, by sensor fusion recognition processing in which there is no difference between the accuracy during the day and the accuracy during the night or the like.
Incidentally, in obstacle detection by this kind of sensor fusion, the distance to a detection target object is unable to be obtained with a monocular camera, so depending on the view from the monocular camera, the horizontal width of an object (i.e., the width in the direction of thickness of an object) that is long in the depth direction ahead (i.e., that extends into the distance) and curves ahead, such as a guardrail or a wall in front of the host vehicle, may end up being erroneously estimated as being thicker than it actually is. As a result, while the vehicle is traveling, the accuracy of the determination as to whether the object is an obstacle that requires an operational response (i.e., evasive action) by the host vehicle may decrease.